2021 Annual and Sustainable Performance Report

OEMs and vehicle manufacturers are in a race for innovation to ensure mobility that is less resource-intensive. How do your adhesives help?

Benoît Perrier: Assembling a vehicle requires hundreds of different bonding solutions, all with various specifications to be met. So the transformation underway in the world of mobility represents a huge field of innovation for our adhesives, which must make these changes possible and indeed accelerate them. Hence the search for a lightweight solution, which is a fundamental trend, involves using new materials, particularly composites, which pose new challenges in terms of bonding. Likewise, the development of electric engines requires demanding assembly functions, especially with regard to batteries.

The bonding processes must be technically efficient by integrating new functionalities such as heat dissipation and fire resistance, but they must also be efficient on an industrial level. Application time and energy costs are key criteria for our customers. More broadly, analyzing the life cycle of adhesives is now a key focus, from the environmental footprint related to sourcing, to compatibility with recycling schemes.

At the same time, the transport sector is recording ever higher expectations in terms of driver and passenger comfort…

Benoît Perrier: Yes, this is the other key trend, focused on customer experience. Again, there are major implications for our adhesives. For example, reducing noise and/or vibrations involves adding textiles, which require highly durable, material-friendly adhesives. The increase in onboard electronics, particularly in electric cars, also creates a need for precision bonding, similar to that found in the consumer IT sector.

How does Bostik, the world’s third-largest adhesives company, position itself in this rapidly changing market?

Benoît Perrier: We’re one of the only players in the world able to offer value-added solutions across all technology families (see box) mobilized by the automotive (original equipment and repair), public transport, rail, marine and aerospace markets. Our innovation policy, which relies on targeted acquisitions, also allows us to develop cutting-edge technologies in highly differentiated specialty hotmelts in certain key areas.

We sell our products to OEMs, as well as directly to the major vehicle manufacturers, to whom we also offer our expertise. They sometimes consult us very early on in their projects, to translate their functional specifications into technical specifications.